White Trash Beautiful
by Kyo's-catnip
Summary: 10 yr old orphanage gang and Rinoa, Laguna's a trailer trash dad. Poor Squall gets lots of crap like always. Irvine's still a perv and Zell's still a chicken wuss in Seifer's book! What happens when Rinoa wants to spend the night w Squall? CUTE!
1. A Sucky Life

Disclaimer: I do not own any FFVIII characters...although I wished I did...

* * *

Hey,

Sorry but I'm gonna be working late again...  
Dinner is in the freezer if you want it. Have a  
good day.

Dad

10 year old Squall Leonhart sighed when he read the all too familiar note left on the kitchen counter before he went to school. This was going to be another one of those boring, suck filled days...or so he thought.  
  
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"Good morning class, we have a new student enrolling today. She will be coming in shortly. Please make her feel at home." Squall could only barely make out Mrs. Edea's voice as he scribbled on a free piece of paper waiting for class to start. Public schools were such a waist of time.

His deep concentration on the little angel he was so carefully drawing was broken when a smart ellicky voice spoke up. "So why should we? She's not from around here! She won't belong!" Mrs. Edea smiled as patiently as she could. "Now Seifer, you haven't even met her. Who knows, maybe you'll even like her." The 11 year old blond rolled his eyes in disgust. "I hate girls!"

"Hush now, here she comes." The door opened and a figure walked in. "Class, I would like you all to meet Rinoa Heartilly." Just to be polite, Squall decided to give the new student some attention so he looked up from his drawing.

There stood the prettiest girl he had ever seen with her dark, long hair and intense eyes, all of which were greatly complimented by her expensive looking blue sweater. "Hey look, a rich kid!" Seifer teased, "...and it looks like Squall's got a crush! Hey, aiming a little high aren't you?" The shaggy haired boy looked at his rival with intense loathing. "Whatever."

"Well I think she is pretty! Hey, Rinoa, come sit by me!" a cowboy wannabe screamed from the back corner of the class. "Hey Irvine! What about me? I am sitting next to you!" a little wildly blond haired boy whined. "Shut up Zell, you're ruining my moves!"

Mrs. Edea put a stop to the argument quickly though. "Miss Heartilly, you can take a seat next to Squall for right now. I think he could show you around and make you feel right at home." The little girl smiled enthusiastically and quickly took her seat.

"Oh well, I still have my sweet little Selfie! You'll always be my number one!" Irvine chirped and smiled at the cute little brunette beside him. She smiled back at him with a you-wish look. "You're so silly Irvie!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Seifer groaned. "Yea me to!" Zell agreed but got an angry look from the little punk. "Shut up chicken wuss. You're such a loser!" He began laughing hysterically as Zell began to cry.

"Mr. Almasy, I think you need to visit the office..." The laughter stopped and the boy glared up at his teacher. "Quistis Trepe, you're in charge while I'm gone." A girl in pink stood up in the front row. "Yes ma'am." The two left and she stayed her ground.

Seeing the coast was clear, Rinoa looked over at her doodling host. "Whatcha drawing?" she whispered so Quitis couldn't hear. Trying to keep his cool, Squall just shrugged, "Nothin much..." Then before he had a chance to catch her, she slipped her hand in and grabbed the paper. "Oh this is so cute! Can I keep it? I really like it!" Holding back a deep blush, the boy looked at her and shrugged, "Whatever."

Their conversation, if that is what you call it, was interrupted by a wailing Zell, "Squall, beat him up! Seifer is so mean!" Rinoa looked at him with adoration. "Oh that's cute! So you kind of take care of him like a little brother!" Squall rolled his eyes. 'How do I get caught up in all this? I just want to be left alone...'

"Now everyone, get back in your seats! Mrs. Edea will be back soon!" Quitis wailed frantically, trying to get the class in order but to no avail, "Irvine, keep your hands to yourself! Rinoa, I know you're new but you need to be a little quieter..." her voice was drowned out by the noise of the classroom.

The noise was only ceased by the reappearance of their teacher. "Back in your seats, now! Thank you for the effort Quitis...now class is about to start. Today we will study ancient...."

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Squall sat by himself and picked at the crap the school had the nerve to call food. 'Oh well, it's no worse then home...' he thought to himself as he dared a first bite. "Wow, you sure are brave for trying this food! By the way, thanks for showing me around and stuff..." Rinoa said, sitting down next to him, bringing the table population up to 2.

"Why don't you sit with everyone else? Are you shy?" Squall looked up at the chatty girl with a cheek full of food. "Do you need anything else?" he sputtered out. Rinoa gave him a puzzled look. "No, I just wanted to talk." If it had been anyone else Squall probably would have shooed them away. Instead, he swallowed his 'food' and nodded.

The girl flashed him a radiant smile and decided it was ok to go on with her one sided conversation. "I used to be home schooled but dad decided I should come here to make friends. Maybe you could come over one day or....I know! I'll go to your house! Mine is so boring and dull. Where do you live?" Squall choked on the milk he was chugging while she talked. "Uh, no where special..."

How could he tell her he lived in a crappy little trailer? She would probably laugh at him...

"So how does tomorrow sound?" Squall snapped back into reality at the offer. No way was she going to HIS house. "I don't know..." Rinoa sighed and looked down at the table in concentration while she bit her tongue. It didn't take long for her head to snap back up into place triumphantly. "You say that because your mom has to ok it right?"

"My mom is dead..." Squall said bluntly, rolling his spork in the gravy substance on his tray. This news seemed to hurt her more then it hurt him. "Oh, I'm so sorry....my mom is dead too..."

Before this talk had a chance to take off the bell rang for class, much to Squall's relief. "Well, see ya..." he muttered and hurried away. How much more socialism could he take today...the meter was running low already.

"Hmmm, he must be really shy..." Rinoa said to no one and got up to go back to class. "Wait a minute...I need to talk to you, princess." She turned around to see Quistis staring at her not three inches away from her face. Rinoa smiled, "Is there a problem?" "Yes, don't talk to Squall anymore. He doesn't like it." To Rinoa, this sounded like an order, and Rinoa Heartilly takes no orders. "Maybe he just doesn't like you because he said I could visit him tomorrow!" she said defiantly and walked away, head held high.

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There wasn't much actual class work done for the rest of the day due to all the chatting and interruptions. When Zell finally giggle a little too loud for the last time Mrs. Edea snapped. "What is the meaning of all this foolishness you all are doing today?!" she nearly yelled. All the kids shut up....except Zell. "Rinoa is going to Squall's house tomorrow! It's just really weird...he has never asked anyone before."

A shaggy head snapped in the main direction of the newest student. Rinoa quickly tried to spit out an excuse, "Uh, it's not like that! It's more like I asked hi..." "Squall's got a girlfriend! Squall's got a girlfriend!" Seifer cheered to the whole class. "Now Seifer, do you want to go to ISS for the second half of the day as well?" The rebellious boy sat back down in his seat growling.

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"Oh god, I hope I never have another day like this again..." Squall mumbled as he stepped into his room and threw his backpack on the bed. He took a moment to look around. A junky twin bed, one small dresser with a bad drawer, and a lone picture of his sis on the wall was all that consisted of his room. "This just sucks..."

A little sickened by his surroundings, he decided to go to the kitchen and see what this food in the freezer his dad wrote about was. He opened the large freezer and saw a frostbitten pizza waiting on him. 'Thanks a lot dad...Am I supposed to live my life on frozen pizza?'

But, what other choice did he have? He groaned and put it out on the counter to be put in the oven. While it cooked he dug past the beer in the fridge for a coke. He didn't mind the beer so much. His dad was pretty responsible about that stuff.

The rest of the night went by without event until his dad got home. "Hey I'm home! Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Laguna asked his son with a lifted eyebrow. "Couldn't sleep..."

Instead of nagging or scolding him, Laguna just sat down next to him on the couch. "Watching Law and Order again? You're no fun!" Squall gave him the evil eye. "I like this show." Before Laguna could come up with a brilliant joke or story he remembered something. "My boss called me to his office today. Says his daughter, is it Rinoa, said you wanted her to come up. So, for you, I told him it was ok...Now don't worry, you can thank me later!"

Squall immediately got up and ran to his room. 'What's up with him?' Laguna wondered but shrugged it off and turned the channel to South Park. "This is better!"


	2. Dads

Hey,

Since you will be having company tonight I  
will be home when you get home. Have a  
good day.

Dad

'Great, could things get any worse?' Squall had his hands over his eyes by now from stress. If crap like this kept happening he wasn't going to live much longer. Oh well, he couldn't change anything now...so off to school he went.

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"Hey Squall! I got my dad to ask yours if it was ok and he said yes! Isn't that great?" Rinoa cried as she came running up to him before class started. "Ya..." he lied. "Wow, that's not cool! I've tried to get girls to come up to my house and my parents never let me!" Irvine said, letting himself into the conversation. "So it's true then? You all are..." Selfie started to ask. "No no no no! It's nothing like that! We are friends, right Squall?" Rinoa looked over at him with wide, puppy dog eyes. "Er..." "See, what did I tell you!" She smiled in victory at Selfie.

"So the little boy has a date huh? Aw, Squall are ya gonna get her some flowers too?" Seifer teased. "Hey, you don't have to be mean." Rinoa had her finger up in his face in a flash, shaking it wildly. "Hahaha, Seifer is whipped!" Zell giggled. Seifer swatted the digit out of his face and made an angry move towards the little boy.

"Ok class, get in your seats." Mrs. Edea said, stepping in just in time, "Open your books to page 73...."

'Why am I here? Why do bad things always have to happen to me? Sis...why did you go off to college and leave me? You would know what to do...' Squall just stared down at the same picture he had been looking at for half and hour at least. 'This sucks...'

"Squall, can you tell the class what happened in 10 AD?" The boy looked up from his picture and gazed at the expectant teacher like a deer in the headlights. "I'm sorry Mrs. Edea, I didn't catch the question." "It's on page 82...and could you please see me when the bell rings?" Head hung low, Squall nodded, "Yes Ma'am..."

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There he sat at lunch for the second day in a row, nearly alone. "Sorry about this morning. It seemed like you were mad at me..." Rinoa apologized as she sat down next to him...again. "No." "Good, wow is it lucky that your dad works for mine! Otherwise we might have had to wait till next week!" she smiled. This sparked a little attention for Squall. "How did you know?"

The ebony haired girl frowned, "Well, it's a long story...it would have been a lot easier if your dad's last name was the same as yours. Why is that by the way? Oh well, I just told dad about you and he said he knew your dad. Push come to shove, here we are!" Being so proud that she had just done such a good job summarizing the event, Rinoa grinned like a fool.

"Oh..."

The girl giggled, "You don't talk much...why is that?" Squall just shrugged. Why was he being criticized all of a sudden? Everything was so much easier when he was alone...

RING RING RING

"Oh good, you know, a lot of kids think bells are bad but me, I think it's just one step closer to being able to go home! Doesn't it sound better like that?" The two kids looked at each other for a minute until Rinoa gasped. "Oh wait, I drew this for you since you gave me the drawing yesterday!" She handed over a folded piece of paper and ran off to class.

Once everyone was safely in their seats and away from him, Squall carefully opened the paper. He stared at it for a moment and then smiled, but not enough for anyone to see. It was a little picture of a lion on a cloud and little flowers placed neatly here and there for effect. Just as carefully, he folded it back up and put it safely in his pocket.

As he finished this procedure, Mrs. Edea walked into class to start right up on math.

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"Whew, bout time that bell rang!" Irvine cheered as everyone walked out of the prison like structure into the fresh air. "Yea, so Irvie, you wanna come to my karate class with me? I think they are teaching numb chucks today!" Selfie offered and grabbed his hand, forcing the boy to follow. Seifer walked by, ignoring everyone all together except for a quick flick in the ear to Zell, who decided it was bad enough to cry over. Before he could be tattled on, he headed straight to his best friends Fujin and Raijin.

"Hey! Thanks for waiting on me! I can't believe they have the nerve to fail me and split us up! You all are he only ones worth anything in this stupid school! I swear, one day I will join the military and get to kill lots of people!" "That sounds fun, ya know?" Raijin agreed. "DESTROY" Fujin voiced and the posse walked off to the bus.

"Well aren't they lively today," Quistis mumbled to Squall. She then turned to him with a serious expression spread across her face. "Squall, did you really want that girl to come with you today? Cuz you know I can tell her off if you want...I promised your sister I would look after you." The boy looked at her with mixed emotions. "No, she can come I guess...besides..."

Before he could finish what he was saying Rinoa ran up from behind them. "Hey Squall, so are we gonna ride the bus?" He nodded and started off in the direction of his bus, being closely followed by a certain, very annoying little girl. "Hmm, that's interesting..." Quistis sighed and walked off to the car where her aunt was waiting on her.

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After a noisy half an hour and lots of stares from lots of students, the two kids got off the bus at Squall's trailer. Rinoa decided to be quiet for one of the only moments after school had let out once they were off. "Wow, this is where you live?" she asked with an odd look about her.

The normal quiet and placid Squall couldn't help but let the remark get to him. He turned to face the girl angrily, "Yes! I am poor! Are you happy now?" He figured that once he said it and the mildly hurt face came to her he might feel better but to see the hurt face just made him feel like a fool. "I was just going to say it looks cozy..." she meeped out, "Is that why you wouldn't let anyone over? Cuz you thought they would make fun of you?"

'Squall, you've done it again. You've stuck yourself in a corner, dug yourself a hole....now what?'

"Hello! Oh so you are Rinoa! It's so good to have you over! You know, we don't have Squall's friends over much. I was beginning to worry he didn't have any!" Laguna greeted happily, opening the door wide open to let the new guest in. 'Oh great, he must have had a few beers and loosened up...he is talking way too much.' Squall contemplated and fearfully followed Rinoa inside. God only knows what his dad had waiting for them...


	3. Games and Rescue

"Tada! Everyone loves SCATTeRGORIeS!!" Laguna said, holding up a big box. Rinoa smiled at the goofy man. "I have never played before...is it fun?" The man seemed taken aback by this bit of information. "Never...played...? My dear girl you are missing out! I love this game and Squall here, why he is almost as good as his dear ol' dad! In fact, I bet he would love to teach you how to play. Rules are simple!"

"You only like it because you like writing..." Squall growled from behind them, but Rinoa turned around and looked at him with wide, nearly excited looking eyes. "Please teach me how to play!" Squall rolled his eyes and nodded. What was he getting himself into?

"Ok," he began as Laguna set up the little boards and put out the timer and the huge dice, "Pretty much, you get a list, role the dice, whatever letter it rolls on you have to think of a word and write it down...like if it rolled on T and the first thing on the list is boy's name, put a boy's name starting with T..." Rinoa looked at him stupidly and blinked. "Wow, that was the most I've ever heard you talk..."

Squall rolled his eyes yet again. "Whatever. Do you understand?"

The girl got a fiendish look on her face a narrowed her eyes. "I don't know...you play with me on my team and maybe I will understand it." Squall looked over at Laguna pleadingly but all he got was a smirk. "Yea Squall, maybe she will. You just sit down next to her and help..." Obviously defeated, the shaggy headed boy sighed and sat down next to the girl.

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"Woo! I won again!" Rinoa cheered for the fourth time. "She's unstoppable!" Laguna wailed, "I've never lost before!!!" Squall just got up and headed for the kitchen. "I'll start on dinner." he muttered as the door closed behind him.

It wasn't long before Laguna had joined him to heat up a frozen pizza. "Do you ever get tired of buying these things?" Squall asked, unconcerned. "Nope, and don't worry, I'll take care of dinner tonight. You just go out there and have a good time with your friend." Squall started for the door slowly. "Oh, but if you go to your room leave the door opened." The boy turned around to look at his idiot father with rage, "What do you take me for?! I'm frickin 10 years old!" With the last word in he stormed out of the kitchen and ran into Rinoa.

"Sorry, dad's stupid..." he said with a slight blush, helping her off the ground. "It's ok! He is just being a dad right? At least your dad is cool." They both heard a loud "Hah, I'm cool!" come from the next room. "So is it ok if I see your room?" This is what Squall was afraid of. "I guess...but it sucks..."

He led Rinoa through the tiny hallway to the last door and opened it. This time she did giggle at it. "Needs a little work huh?" Head in hands, Squall nodded once but looked up when he heard a squeal come from his guest. "Who is that girl? She is pretty!" Finally, something to talk about without embarrassment!

"That's my sis. She got a scholarship to a college in another state so she is gone for a while...I miss her..."

Rinoa looked up into his intense eyes as he talked about Ellone. "You all must have been close. I bet you miss her..." "Yea......" After a long, uncomfortable pause, Squall turned towards the door. "Let's go outside. You probably hate it in this tiny place."

He quickly shoved her out of the room and out of the house with him. After he surveyed the area he decided a walk down the road would be best. They walked down the dirt road without a word for several minutes, both deep in thought.

"Tell you what, next time I come over we will rearrange your room and put stuff up on the walls. That will make it a lot more homely!" Rinoa resolved, braking Squall's much loved silence. Why was she still thinking about that stupid room? Was it that bad? "Ok." Just as he thought he was going to nudge in a little more silence Rinoa spoke up once again, "So what are you thinking about? I can tell when you are thinking you know..."

Luckily, or unluckily, however you might look at it, before he had to open his mouth at all Irvine and Selfie walked down the road towards them. "Hey, we're over here! Come walk with us!" Selfie yelled, waving her arms in the air as if Rinoa and Squall couldn't see her from a few yards away. "Aw man, when am I ever gonna be able to make my move..." Irvine inaudibly whined.

The four gathered together and the girls giggled with each other. "Hey, let's go hiking!" Selfie offered, pointing to a shadowy, spooky looking wood. "I don't know Self, it's rumored that wood is haunted..." Irvine warned, not knowing he was just agging her on in his own little way.

"It's settled! We go! Besides, if something tries to get me Squall will save me, right Squall?" Rinoa asked, looking at him with those eyes. "Er..." "See, I knew he would be up for it!" "Yea, and Irvine will save me, right Irvine?" Selfie asked him with her hands on her hips. "Of course baby!" Irvine agreed ferociously.

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"Ahhh! It's huge!" Irvine screamed. Selfie quickly picked up the frog that had landed on his shoulder. "Oh Irvie, you're such a baby!" Rinoa giggled but it was somewhat nervous. "So you guys, where are we? I've never been this deep in any woods before..." "Yea Irvine, where are we?" Selfie demanded. "Hey, don't look at me, I thought you were keeping track of where we were!" Irvine accused.

"Great, we're lost! Now we'll just have to wait for the first one to die and eat each other!" Selfie sighed heavily. Rinoa automatically clung to Squall. "Squall, I'm scared....so scared..." The boy gently put his arm around her shivering body. "Don't worry, I have been keeping track on where we are. You're safe..."

"Wow, you sure are good with women, man. You gotta tell me your secret one day!" Irvine said, ruining the two kids' moment.

Thanks to our hero, they were all out of the woods in no time and went their separate ways.

Once they were once again alone, Rinoa tried to gaze into her rescuer's eyes but only succeeded in tripping over a stick in the road. "Watch it. Am I gonna have to save you from everything?" Squall muttered as he caught her just before impact with the gravel. "Thanks Squall..." Rinoa blushed and they continued home.

"Hey, what took you all so long? Food's been ready for an hour!" Laguna yelled out the screen door as soon as they were in his sight. "We got a little lost..." Rinoa admitted shyly. Laguna laughed, "Heh, so Mr. Man couldn't stop and ask for directions huh? Heh heh."

They got inside and saw a half a pizza on the coffee table. "What happened t..." "Oh sorry bout that! I got a little hungry while I was waiting..." Laguna retorted before Squall even finished. "Whatever."

They all sat down on the couch to eat and Laguna flipped on the TV to Wheel of Fortune. "Dad, this isn't right...Rinoa probably hates these stupid shows..." Squall assumed, just trying to make up an excuse to watch something else. Laguna and word games...oi! "No, this is just fine! I don't get to watch much TV." Rinoa said, blowing poor Squall's excuse out of the water.

They finished 'dinner' and watched a little more TV while Laguna talked through all of the good shows. Then, in the middle of one of his stories about the military the girl remembered something. "Mr. Loire, why do you and Squall have different last names?" Laguna smiled at her forwardness, "Well, long story short, me and Raine, his mother, kept our own last names when we got married but didn't want to have to give him two last names so we just combined some of the letters from each and wallah! We have Leonhart!"

"Well that's wonderful!" Rinoa complimented to both guys. "Oh, but do you have a phone? I told my father I would call." Laguna bowed in the direction of the kitchen, "Why certainly my dear, it's hanging on the wall, can't miss it!"

As soon as she was gone, Squall got up from his little corner of couch, "Why are you being so ignorant?" "I'm not, just making conversation, unlike someone I know!" his dad teased.

"Hey guess what?" Rinoa called excitedly from the kitchen, "Father said it was ok if I spend the night! Is it ok with you Mr. Loire?" Laguna gave Squall the most evil look and called back airily, "Of course! Make yourself at home!" As soon as he was done talking Squall grabbed the nearest pillow and leapt at him, covering his face with the make-shift weapon. "I'm gonna kill you!" All he could hear of Laguna was muffled hysterical laughter.


	4. The Sleep Over?

"Well, I'm going to bed! You all be good and Miss Rinoa, if this young man gives you any trouble you just come get me and I'll whoop his butt!" Laguna said, winking at the young girl and then patting his son on the bottom, making him prickle with rage. "You just invited her to stay the night and now you're going to bed?" Laguna smiled and nodded at his angry son's question.

Once Laguna was shut up in his room and safe from the two children, he flipped on his TV.

"So Squall, where do I sleep?" Rinoa asked innocently. "Uh, I don't know...I guess the couch..." he replied simply, totally unaware that this was so obviously the wrong answer. "What?! I'm a lady! You should offer me your bed!" "Well then...you can have my bed..." the boy corrected himself before he could get another earful. He really didn't care where he slept.

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So there Squall lay at midnight, on the couch, watching late night infomercials with one small pillow and a throw blanket that could only cover one half of his body because of a stupid girl. 'What am I thinking? I am being pushed around by a girl! I'm just going to kill dad. That's all there is to it. At least she is asleep...'

"Squall...I can't sleep...I had a nightmare..." a small feminine voice said from the hallway. The boy looked in that direction with pure horror to see Rinoa shivering from the doorway of his room, wearing one of his long sit down..." he finally said after a moment of staring at the pathetic sight of pure fear. The girl crept slowly to the couch and sat down next to the now upright and very uncomfortable looking Squall. "Uhh...you're not wearing any pants..." he squeaked out. Rinoa giggled, "Well, you're not wearing a shirt so we are even!" Squall welded his hand to his face in embarrassment.

"Well you don't seem very scared anymore...you better go back to bed..." he mumbled after a minute. 'You might get in trouble...' The ebony hair rustled slightly against the fair complexion of the girl's skin. "Well you did make me feel better...but...can I stay in here and watch TV with you?"

'Don't look at her. She will just be making those puppy dog eyes. Don't look, don't look, don't look...Christ, what am I saying? I'm 10 years old! Don't look!' Slowly, a pair of dark eyes trailed over to the face of a girl with the most irresistible puppy dog eyes ever, at least in Squall's point of view. "...Ok..." he huffed heavily.

A quick giggle and a fit of girly excitement later they were both sitting under a blanket from his room watching infomercials. It wasn't long before Squall had a certain little girl's sleepy head on his shoulder. "Thanks Squall...Today has been really fun...good...night..." and with the last word cut off ever so subtly by exhaustion, the girl was asleep.

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"Oh-ho this one is for the fridge!" Laguna quietly giggled, "Ellone will eat this up!" He quietly and skillfully snapped his camera several times, the last one with a bright flash, waking the children from their dreams.

Squall was the first to gain full consciousness, realizing he had slid over in the night to a laying position with Rinoa snuggling close to him. He also noticed the figure standing in front of him and the object he was holding. "No!" He jumped up from the old couch, making Rinoa's head snap down to the cushion and waking her. Still in a daze, she looked around for meaning of this situation.

"What's going on...?" she yawned and threw off the blanket to get up; not realizing that sleeping with a boy with no pants on was bad, intentional or unintentional. "Oh my god! Squall Leonhart, I am so disappointed in you! And with my boss's daughter no less!" Laguna gasped, only half joking. Squall looked at him like he was stupid. "Dad, I haven't even hit puberty yet, what am I supposed to do that was so bad, idiot?" "Oh good point! Whew, it's good you got the brains from my side of the family or you would be in some big trouble young man..." Laguna laughed, but soon fell over in pain, "God, my leg is acting up again..."

Squall rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Come on, let's get you some clothes..." He took Rinoa's hand and led her from the area. "Shouldn't we help him?" Rinoa asked as they disappeared into the boy's room. "Nope...he can suffer for a while..."

Once everyone was fully dressed and free from pain, they sat down to enjoy breakfast.

"You have got to be kidding..." Squall growled, looking up at his dad in irritation. "What? Pizza is good for all occasions!" Laguna insisted. "No dad, it's not..."

Pizza as it was, Squall ate it and the kids were quickly outside once again. "Your family sure is strange..." Rinoa giggled once they were safely away from the trailer. "Yea, I hate it..." At this Rinoa gasped, "Squall, are you opening up to me? Yes, I think you are!" The boy rapidly twisted around and gazed at her severely but said nothing and decided to just keep walking.

They didn't have to walk for very long before the one and only posse arrived out of nowhere. "Hey loser, what do you think you're do..." Seifer stopped once he noticed Rinoa was with Squall. "Hey, I thought she was with you yesterday..." "Yep, but I spent the night!" Rinoa cheered proudly.

"Oh that's just so wrong!" Seifer said just before he clasped his hands to his mouth. "That is kinda weird, ya know!" Raijin agreed. "SICK." Fujin worded.

"Hey, just what are you accusing us of? Like Squall said earlier, we haven't even hit puberty yet!" Rinoa scolded, unaware that she was ruining Squall's life, let alone rep. "Is that what he said?" Seifer smirked and looked at his friends to confirm his plans. "Puberty boy, Puberty boy! Squall is Puberty boy!" The three of them cheered and ran off before the enraged shaggy haired boy had a chance to catch them and kill them.

"Oh, I'm sorry Squall..." Rinoa apologized as soon as he was back at her side, panting. "I didn't know that would happen..." "Don't...worry...I'll get...them..." Squall huffed, still trying to catch his breath. The girl smiled and grabbed his hand t lead him on. "Come on, let's find a cool place to walk!"

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"Ok, Truth or dare?" "Truth..." Rinoa looked thoughtfully at her victim as they walked, "Why do you eat pizza all the time?" Squall looked at her with a sign of loathing at the very word, "Cuz dad burns everything else...the only one who could cook was Sis and she is gone..."

'Why am I playing this? This is a stupid girly game...who actually tells the truth anyways...oh...I just did. Oh well, guess I'll just give her what she wants...stupid girls...'

"Ok, now my turn, I choose dare!" Rinoa said, distracting Squall from his thoughts. "Uh...I dare you to...." He looked around for ideas and spotted the perfect thing, "...climb up that tree." He pointed to an old maple. "Fine, I will!" Rinoa guaranteed, pulling off her arm warmers and handing them to him.

She climbed up to the first branch and stood up to look at her tiny looking friend. "Haha everything is so different from up here!" she called down but only got a look of sarcasm. "You're three feet off the ground..." Squall muttered.

"Well if I'm not so high up I guess you'll just let me fall when I jump huh?" Rinoa teased and automatically leaped from the branch. Without thinking, the boy ran to her landed right under her before she hit the ground giggling. "I knew it!"

"What were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt! Then you'd never get to come over again!" Squall yelled, practically in hysterics as they brushed him off. "Oh so you DO want me to come back over!" Rinoa inquired. "No...I mean...er..." The girl looked at him smiled sweetly. "Ok, Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Rinoa glared evilly at her victim once again but with a more menacing expression than he had ever seen before. "Ok, I dare you...to kiss me!" Squall jumped back in horror, face turning whiter then hers. "What?!" "Oh, so you're too much of a chicken?" she giggled. "No..." Squall stuttered, trying to act tough and manly. "Then do it!"

Out of options, the boy shut his eyes tightly and puckered his lips tensely. "Aha, just kidding! Wow, and you were really going to do it!" Rinoa laughed. Squall opened his eyes and saw her walking back down the road towards his house.


	5. Papa Don't Preach

"Hey, why did you do that? That was cruel" Squall panted when he finally got to stop running to catch up with the little prankster of a girl. They were already practically back to the trailer by now. Rinoa simply turned around and gave him a shy, blushing smile. "So you really did want to kiss me?" she asked, batting her big eyelashes.

The poor pre-puberty boy just gaped at her. What was he supposed to say to that? He didn't know if he did or not... "No! I mean to make me think you were actually going to put me through that!" he spat, trying to sound masculine...if that was what masculine people said...he thought so.

Hearing those words seemed to hurt Rinoa, but instead of taking off in a crying mass, she took a few steps closer to the body and wrapped her arms around him so he couldn't escape, resting her head comfortably on his shoulder. "Well I like you Squall Lionhart. I think we will be friends forever."

Squall's bushy little head began swimming with a mixture of different feelings. No one had ever said that to him before. But he was a boy and she was a girl. It would never work would it? "Thanks" he finally sputtered and carefully embraced her in her own hug, in a way that she wouldn't possible be offended.

SNAP "Aw that is just the sweetest thing I have ever seen! Skrew that other picture, THIS ONE is for the fridge!" Laguna smiled happily at his masterful skills of photography, "I knew if I waited long enough I would get a good one like this.Hey, maybe I should become a photographer instead of a writer!" He stood there and pondered his new choices of careers totally oblivious to the fact that his son was homing in on his murder.

BEEP BEEP

A big black Mercedes pulled up behind the trio and was waiting for them. How long it had actually sat there none of them knew, but there is sat none the less. A small, orderly looking bald head popped itself out the driver's window. "Miss Heartilly, your father is here to pick you up," he announced with an English accent.

Rinoa sighed and began dragging her feet sulkily over to the back door of the car to look in. Neither of the bachelors knew exactly what went on or what was said but it didn't take long for her father to get out of the car and march over to Laguna, eyeing Squall heatedly.

"My daughter just begged me to let her stay another night because she gets to stay up all night with him!" he bellowed, waving his finger in Squall's direction, "What exactly does she mean by this?"

Laguna smiled nervously and began scratching his head, "Uh well, I'm not sure...I was asleep."

He looked up into the full-sized man's eyes for signs of approval but was met with only a blood red face. "What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded. Squall, who until now was watching quietly from the sidelines, shoved his dad aside muttering something like, "Shut up stupid" and looked up into the blood red face himself.

"Sir, All we did was watch infomercials and fall asleep. We are friends, isn't that what friends do?" Sparkles began drifting around him while he spoke these words of wisdom and he could have sworn that somewhere in the distant sparkles he saw Rinoa cheering him on, but it might have just been his imagination.

"Well, normally I would have pummeled you AND your father for this, but you are such an intelligent and honest young man everything is ok!" Rinoa's father exclaimed, smiling broadly and slapping Squall's shoulder nearly off. From behind him, Rinoa gave her new friend an extremely enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Well father, can I stay?" Rinoa chimed after a few moments. The gruff look returned to the older man and he moved his arm in an away-with-you motion. "Of course not! What would your mother have said if she were alive?"

To Rinoa Heartilly, this meant war. "Well DAD, she would have told me to follow my heart and go for the one I love because he might not always be here!" she blurted without realizing what she had just said. A silent gasp let loose throughout every man in the vicinity, especially a certain ten year old, bushy haired boy. Rinoa just looked at them stupidly, "What?"

"THIS is why I am a writer and not a photographer!" Laguna yelled very ADD like, then hurriedly went back inside to look for a spare notebook. Everyone watched him with a blank stare until he was gone, but quickly returned to what they were doing and the conversation that was going on.

"Rinoa, we're going home," her dad calmly stated and motioned her back towards the car. The girl strongly stood her ground though. "Fine, but I want to say goodbye first! Go away and count your money or something till then!" She crossed her arms and marched over to Squall, who was blushing deeply by now.

He was quickly calmed when Rinoa smiled at him, even if it was fake. "Good bye Squall! I guess I'll see you at school Monday...er...yea." A rare but beautiful thing happened. Squall Leonhart smiled. He smiled so much his eyes were practically closed and he held out his hand. "Friends?"

Rinoa didn't take his hand. She threw her arms around him in a huge friendly hug. "You know, you're my very first friend. Thanks Squall..." she whispered as her grasp on him tightened. "Same here Rinoa....but, could you let go...I'm kind of choking here..."

The girl let go with a blush and happily skipped to the car. She flung open the door and jumped in. Squall could hav swore he heard the father cussing as she landed on him, but he wasn't sure.

"Ok, I'm ready! Now, just keep talking and this will be wonderful!" Laguna announced as he pranced out of the house with his paper, stopping in mid-air when he realized his soon was the only one there. "Where did everybody go?" The boy shot HIS father his more then daily evil stare and went back inside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Squall sighed and sat down at his desk. Monday already....oh well. It didn't matter. It wasn't like home was any better.

"Hey puberty boy, how's it hanging?" Seifer teased, sitting down in the desk in front. Squall just rolled his eyes and decided to ignore the annoying thing in front of him. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Dammit, talk, punch me, do something!"

'La la la, I'm not listening.'

"Oh, did you hear? Lil' Miss Rinoa isn't comming here anymore. I heard in the teacher's lounge this morning that her dad said the kids were too unproper for his daughter and she would return home-schooling from now on. Ha ha ha sucks for you puberty boy!" Siefer chuckled.

"What?! No! I gotta get her back!" Squall was on his feet and out the door before Siefer could even come up with an insult on how much he liked the girl. While rushing out, he accidentally brushed by Mrs. Edea.

"Sorry! I'll be back before class starts!" Squall panted. Normally, Mrs. Edea would have ran to catch anyone who rushed out of her class and paddle them, but in this instant she just sighed and smiled. 'It starts earlier and earlier every gneration I tell you...' she thought to herself and walked calmly into the classroom.

* * *

Sorry this chappy is so short but I thought it would be a good stopping place for this chappy! The next one will be longer I.....er...hope. What? Thought you would get a promise outta me? I dont think so!  



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